'Sonic the Hedgehog' – Sega Returns!
posted by Eli Hodapp on May 21st, 2009 1:24 AM EDT in $0.99, $5.99, Action, Platform, Puzzle, Retro, Reviews, iPhone games, iPod touch games
Over the past few months, iPhone gamers have all been wondering what in the world happened to Sega. They released Super Monkey Ball [App Store], then Columns Deluxe [App Store] not too long after, and then just disappeared until tonight when Sonic the Hedgehog [App Store] was finally released–Surprising us all.
There have been some good ports for the iPhone and some bad ports for the iPhone. Sonic the Hedgehog safely lies somewhere in the middle. The default display mode for the game stretches the screen to fit the aspect ratio of the iPhone and overlays a transparent D-Pad on one side and matching transparent button to jump on the other. This not only makes the game look slightly blurry, but in my testing with an iPhone 3G resulted in frame rates which are less than desirable for a game that is all about going fast.
Fortunately, Sega included a second view style in to the game that does away with the transparent controls and instead centers the screen in its original resolution of 320×224 for a crysttal clear representation of the original. In the smaller screen size, the framerate, while improved, still isn't perfect. There is still noticeable slowdown when Sonic gets hit and loses all his rings, but it's quite playable. Disabling the game's sound also increases performance, but I don't think this is something you should ever have to do. If you have a 2nd generation iPod touch, you're in luck because the game runs noticeably better than on the older iPhone hardware.
The simple controls of all Sonic games translate well to the iPhone, and since all you really ever need to be doing is running forward or jumping, none of the problems exist with the virtual D-Pad that other games which require more precise controls have.
Also, I was surprised to find that if you quit Sonic the Hedgehog mid-level, the game remembers exactly where you were and you're given the opportunity to continue the next time you start the game.
Here is a gameplay video that shows both full screen and original screen sizes in action:
[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]
It seems fairly obvious that Sonic the Hedgehog is little more than the Genesis ROM wrapped in an official Sega emulator. If this is the case, I think I speak for all iPhone gamers interested in classic titles when I say: Sega, please, release more games. You're sitting on a gold mine here. Optimize the emulator a little more so it runs well on the iPhone then do absolutely nothing but release every good game from the Genesis library you still hold publishing rights to. Thanks in advance!
App Store Link: Sonic the Hedgehog, $5.99
No worries about the slowdown. My source says iPhone 3.0 has Blast Processing.
Great review Hodapp. To be honest I was not thinking about purchasing Sonic but now you gave a lot of good reasons to do the opposite.
If memory serves correctly, there was a bit of slowdown when you lost your rings on the Genesis.
Just needs to be optimized by Sega.
Retro games are great and everything, but $5.99 for a warped port of Sonic the Hedgehog? No thanks.
Oh something interesting I just discovered, Sonic on the Wii Virtual Console is 500 points, or $5 USD. I wonder why the iPhone game is priced differently.
That's a better port than this too (which I can hardly call 'port' when all they do is emulating it). Maybe the $1 extra is for portability factor?
Yeah, the framerate loss is noticeable on ALL ports, and it was present on the original SEGA Mega Drive (or as you call it Genesis). It does so as well on my PS2 Sonic Collection. As it is very much a 1:1 emulation of the GENESIS (wrapped in an emulator), this is not just a slowdown of the iPhone.
The fact that you called it a MegaDrive causes me to assume that you are perhaps a gamer in the PAL regions (or were if you moved). Remember that the games that Sega developed (as most games back in those days) were for NTSC in mind. The PAL refresh rate at the time was lower, with no switch, and the resolution differences were noticeable, and the former, iirc, had the effect on video games in particular as they would be wrought with slowdown that wasn't present on the hardware running for NTSC.
Was there slowdown in Sonic? Yes. But not to the level I have seen in most of the emulated versions.
When the inevitable slew of bad reviews come in on this game, as is the case with nearly every game ever priced over 3 bucks *sigh* on top of the apparent framerate issues (Though, as mentioned, there has _always_ been a slowdown at ring loss, it's partly intentional, partly a factor of the old hardware)… anyway this is undoubtedly going to see a price drop within a month or so I'm sure.
So I'll bookmark it and grab it when it's $2
Bookmark? Boomark…?! How??
I have one suggestion, AppSniper. A great app by Manta Research
It's an emulator. Inside the app, there's "rom.bin" and, when opened in another emulator, opens to Sonic. I would replace the rom but I'm on 2.2 and it won't run for me
Oh wow. That actually works. No lag or dropped frames when playing it on my MacBook Pro. Thanks Virtualball.
What do you mean? How can you see the rom.bin?
Can anyone with a jailbroken device try replacing the rom.bin to see if that works? If it does, it's an instant buy just for the emulator.
I really don't trust SEGA to release all their classics, anyway.
Even if it did work, there's only one button. You would only really be able to emulate Sonic games.
Sonic! One of my favorite games! Too bad sega isn't putting effort in. Emulating sega on iPhone with decent performance shouldn't be a problem!!!!
Hire some programmers and put that amazing IP to use!
For now, monkey ball sucks, iso is WAY better than columns, and I'm too poor to pay 6 bucks for a half-hearted port of a game I already own the cart for!!
Looking at the YouTube video it looks like the frame rate is terrible throughout. This is a game which should rubn at 60fps, as it did on the Mega Drive/Genesis (with some minor slowdown when you drop your rings). It's absurd that a platform such as the iPhone, which is vastly more powerful than the Mega Drive cannot run this game properly. SEGA's iPhone efforts are a total joke.
I highly doubt the original ran at 60FPS. I don't believe the Genesis (or any console of that era) had video hardware that ran faster than 30FPS. The first console I remember definitely doing 60FPS was the Dreamcast.
Actually it's quite the opposite. Consoles gave been running 60fps 2d games since the very early days. Most NES games were 60fps. It was only when polygons appeared the frame rates went down the toilet.
Love Sonic, but this looks like a lacklustre emulation, hardly a proper port. Until Sega can be bothered to put some effort in I'll put my money elsewhere thanks. Shame.
@Jason, thanks for the tip, I'll be getting Iso.
"If memory serves correctly, there was a bit of slowdown when you lost your rings on the Genesis."
Yeah you're d4mn right it did! The video looks fine to me. I did a quick compare with my old Mega Drive and it looks fine. The game has always slowed down when there was a bit too much going on… especially in later levels when it got busy.
Odd that this is criticism is being levelled at the game.
No, it isn't a "perfect port" at all. There IS slowdown apparent in that build that is NOT apparent in the Genesis title. Perhaps PAL gamers got stuck with a lousy build because of that god awful refresh rate they had on their sets until recently (PAL standard was good for movies, friggin' AWFUL for video games).
Want proof? Go to :49 in the video. Right when Sonic jumps in front of the spring there is some NASTY slowdown that shouldn't be there as it wasn't there in the original game.
Surely this is a prime candidate for the in-app purchase system coming with 3.0? Sega could release a Megadrive emulator and then provide in-app purchases for the games. They could release the whole Megadrive catalogue this way. Plus, you'd only have the one icon on your iPhone!
Come on Sega, think about it! Ka-ching!
I love Sonic and I'd buy a well executed iPhone port of it in a heartbeat, but if Sega think they can ship this half-baked garbage the same week as Toki Tori and get my money they've totally lost the plot.
I'll look out for updates, but this 1.0 is an insult to a classic.
Call me when it's patched and $2.99
just give me crazy taxi and chu chu rocket, these would be prefect on the iphone
Im sick of the complaining, i'm buying this game and thats that. I bought pac man too after reading through literally hundreds of negative reviews about it regarding the price, and yet i have never regretted it. It's a great game. Im off to the app store to buy this now, and all of you can keep on complaining, but i'll be playing sonic in 5 minutes and you won't be, so there.
needs moar mode 7.
Okay I've played this now and I can safely say AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Thee frame rate is absolutely terrifying. It rarely tops 15fps rendering the game an animated flick book and little more. I have never seen Sonic run at such a low frame rate on ANY system. This is utterly abysmal.
To repeat – AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
They should have done tilt controls and/or touch the edge of the screen for movement.
Again: SONIC 1?! What the heck Sega?! Of all the sonics to port you port the crapiest one! You Should have made an exclusive sonic for the iPhone darn it!
Lazy and stupid.
tim
Oh great, another game that probably won't run properly on the 1st generation iPod touch.
Is it so hard to test the games on all four available iPhones/iPod touch for a huge company like SEGA?
Sega loves to milk Sonic…
They sure do, just like Nintendo likes to milk Mario over, and over, and over again. It's sad really.
What a lame job!!! If I wanted to play a ROM on an emulator, I would jailbreak my iPhone and do it!! I can't believe a big company like SEGA can be so lazy. People want a proper PORT, not an emulator. It is incredible that a game almost 20 years old cannot run properly on a 2008 iPhone 3G.
@Cask: actually I have to disagree – I wouldn't want a "port", I want good emulation. Ports of games like this inevitable differ from the original, and usually not in a good way. Good emulation will give you the game as it was, and as it was intended. It can't get any better then that, and surely the iPod touch/iPhone are capable of it. Maybe they'll improve the emulation with an update? Maybe not.
To me, the original size/aspect ratio version, which is what I'd choose anyway, looked like it worked pretty well, certainly much better then the stretched version (which also results in your fingers obscuring part of the game screen, incidentally, also undesirable), and if it's true that OS 3.0 will help, then I might just go ahead and buy this. I'd love to have this game on my iPod touch (1st gen.)
They could keep the same pixel graphics and just widen your view to fill the screen. That sounds best to me.
Man this is awesome, but I will pass. 5.99 Price tag is a little rough, and I have played and beaten sonic 1 probably about 100 times between the origional, all the ports, and my PC emulators. If they released sonic 2, for 4.99 then I would probably cop a copy of that. I WANT ALTERED BEASTS AND TOEJAM AND EARL DAMNIT!!!
Mixed feelings, since I've jailbroken my phone out of curiosity, and own the original cardridge. So officially I can just play the Rom, wich might perform just as well? If not; there is a Gameboy Advanced port of this rom too….
Im not really encouraging porting behavoir if not really anything is added. In probably 10 years from now they will still re-release this game ;P get over it!
"since all you really ever need to be doing is running forward or jumping, none of the problems exist with the virtual D-Pad"
What? Maybe if you're just trying a speed run of Green Hill Zone, but many of the later levels require some tricky platforming (remember all those moving platforms and spinning spikes?) There's also a lot of backtracking if you want to find all the secrets.
It's weird that Sonic has acquired this reputation as a game where you just run as fast as you can. There's definitely some of that, but there's as much exploration as in the old Mario games, and a lot of the fun is the tension between being fast vs being careful.
I was just about to point that out, as well as Hodapp's line about "a game that is all about going fast".
What the hell? No it isn't all about going fast. It's about reacting quickly. Huge difference. Some of which has to do with all that stuff to which you alluded, Jens.
I will disagree, however, in your statement that Sonic had as much exploration as the old Mario games. Yes, exploration played a vital part in the game, but not to the level of the Mario games, as should be obvious as Sega's game development philosophy hinges primarily on visceral arcade reflex reaction gaming, whereas Nintendo's hinges primarily on the "joy of exploration". That has much to do with why Sega was king of arcades and Nintendo king of action/adventure style games (Zelda, Metroid, etc.)
I think true retro fans would find this hard to avoid. Such criticism…
6 bucks is WAY WAY WAY WAY too steep. They should just bundle a bunch of old ports for that price.
After careful inspection of this thread:
The first post is the clear winner!
Nice one!
I LOVE Sonic as much as the next guy. Matter of fact, I love any oldschool videogame. I'm a big time nostalgic game.
But SIX DOLLARS for a 15+ year old game? Really?
That's just ridiculous. They could very well price it at 99 cents and STILL make a killing.
as someone mentioned, if you SSH the rom.bin file out of the app and open it in another emulator it runs sonic, could one rename another sonic game to rom.bin and SSH it into the app directory and play one of the others. They all have the same controls. I'd give it a try but I don;t want to pay just to test when I already have Genesis4iPhone.
[Quote]Nez says:
May 21, 2009 at 5:44 am
Surely this is a prime candidate for the in-app purchase system coming with 3.0? Sega could release a Megadrive emulator and then provide in-app purchases for the games. They could release the whole Megadrive catalogue this way. Plus, you'd only have the one icon on your iPhone!
Come on Sega, think about it! Ka-ching![Quote]
That is an awesome idea, which could also work for their 1980's arcade games.
Blast Processing for the win. >.>
Running it on OS 3.0 here and I can hardly notice much slowdown…
I've been in the bathroom playing this game for an hour………
Hello!
Based on the brief thread above on May 21, 2009 2:47am by Virtualball I renamed Sonic 1.app's rom.bin to rom.bin.bak and uploaded a different ROM to test (Landstalker in this instance).
To my amazement it actually started up (intro music and title screen)!… Then crashed back to Springboard.
So, if you have any ROMs that only need one button (A I believe) on your Genesis/Megadrive then Sonic 1 is worth the $6 (at least as a "better" alternative to genesis4iphone).
Peace.
Just got it on my 1G touch and I'll agree with the review – it looks best in the window mode but I reckon it plays lovely. I've not had a go at Sonic since I had a MegaDrive in the early 90's and it seems every bit as good as I remember. If this is being run through an emulator as people are saying – bring on the rest of the back catalogue!
You need to refreash your memory of the original, either that or get your eyes tested. Can you seriously not notice the abysmal frame rate? Sonic should be super smooth, and is on EVERY other platform. Add to that the wooly controls and you have an utter train wreck.
I put it right up with MegaMan 2 as the worst iPhone port to date.
Hmm…just bought this for my 2nd Gen iPod Touch, and the menus are all in German…WTF!? The game runs and plays fine otherwise, so far so good.
There doesn't seem to be a 'language' button in the menus…sigh…oh well, I can learn a few German phrases. Two apps in one I guess!
Im my recently purchased iPhone 3GS it runs fine – only a touch of slow when i lose a lot of rings at once. Need to get used to the controls though…
Now that bring back memory's guys when i was a kid and sonic first came out i never at that time think it be on a little phone in the future its awesome lol